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Could Robinson’s Deal Come Soon?

It’s been a quiet preseason for the Knicks. If NBA free agency were airplanes, restricted free agents David Lee and Nate Robinson are in a holding pattern waiting for the weather to change. And the Milwaukee to New York flight (Ramon Sessions) hasn’t gotten off the ground, and may be rerouted to Los Angeles.

So over anxious New Yorkers, like yours truly, are looking for any clue that might shed some light on these events. Nate Robinson is a frequent twitterer, and perhaps he hinted at a Knicks resigning.

RT @MikeAdz: @nate_robinson I doubt you read these, but for what it is worth, PLEASE STAY IN NY!!!(Yeah ill be back in nyc dnt worry)4:36 PM Aug 5th from UberTwitter

For the Twitter-illiterate and the elderly, I’ll translate: Robinson is telling his friends he’ll be in New York City on the 17th (Monday), and he’ll be back playing for the Knicks. Now granted perhaps Nate is just speculating, and perhaps he’s coming into New York for another reason. It’s certainly possible that nothing will happen in the next few days, especially if Donnie Walsh is waiting out the Ramon Sessions situation. I’ll guess we’ll find out the answers to these sooner or later.

30 comments on “Could Robinson’s Deal Come Soon?”

Thanks, as usual, for keeping us up to the moment, in this uneventful off season. While it may make for a less lively board it beats having to suffer thru the season watching the flotsam and jetsam Zeke used to bring in and try to pass off as gold. A low key GM is a breath of fresh air.

“While it may make for a less lively board it beats having to suffer thru the season watching the flotsam and jetsam Zeke used to bring in and try to pass off as gold. A low key GM is a breath of fresh air.”

Sanman says that the Knicks should try to trade (PF)Al Harrington and the rights to (PF)David Lee to the Utah Jazz for (PF) Carlos Boozer and (SG) C.J. Miles.

Then the Knicks should sign (PG)Ramon Sessions to the mid-level
money as soon as possible. These transaction would completely change the face of the team and Carlos Boozer could entise Lebron
James to sign.

Sanman says that the Knicks should try to trade (PF)Al Harrington and the rights to (PF)David Lee to the Utah Jazz for (PF) Carlos Boozer and (SG) C.J. Miles.

Then the Knicks should sign (PG)Ramon Sessions to the mid-level
money as soon as possible. These transaction would completely change the face of the team and Carlos Boozer could entise Lebron
James to sign.

Lee + Harrington for Boozer is a significant downgrade the moment Boozer gets injured. You can count on both of them to play 90% of their games, which is more than you can say for the real “half-man, “half-season”.

I highly doubt Utah would want Lee anyway seeing as how they already have a similar player in Paul Millsap signed long-term.

I’m not high on Ramon Sessions, and given what a terrible shooter he is, he would not fit next to LeBron at all (Nate Robinson on the other hand, would). The only reason the Knicks should sign Sessions long term is if they’re trying to be a lottery team for the next five years.

Hey Rashidi you know that Nate’s EFG% on jump shots was .378 vs. .376 for Sessions and the Great Nate again was below NBA average on three pointers for the second year in a row at .325 and would have been further below league average if the average was not dragged down by Sessions paltry 34 attempts. So if you want a hucker go keep Nate who by the way was worse than Sessions in rebounding percentage, assist ratio along with blocks, he had a .1 lead in steals despite all that effort on the category by D’Antoni and had he not shot the ball so much and so indiscriminately may have been behind Sessions in TO ratio as well. I just dont’ see anyone coming to NY for the chance to play with Nate Robinso, who until recently still had opposing benches laughing hysterically at him.

If you ask me Donnie is incubating for a big bang – a start of a new knick universe, a butterfly of the nba……just like he made that Indiana team a contender(still wonder why they never won in Finals – almost perfect at every position:MJ,RM,AD,DD,RS….hated them) – i hope he’s got somthn like that hidden up his sleeve…..
as hard as it is to watch that process for a fan, i still think he can make it right – in donnie i trust…he selected Miller over some guy Alford???…brilliant – hope that Gallo and Hill…..ah workday is over….

RealGM says Knicks are holding off on signing a PG because they’re still in the market for Rubio. I don’t know if it’s at all likely we could get him, but I have been wondering for weeks why these rumors haven’t beenpopping up already. It seems all but certain he’s not coming to Minnesota, why wouldn’t they be looking to trade him?

Yeah, Rubio would change the whole equation since he would tie up virtually no salary. I just worry about him defensively, is he NBA ready? I suppose he isn’t, he could back up Duhon and TD until he is. Do we give up Nate and/or Lee in a sign and trade? How do we make it work salary-wise?

I just hope this doesn’t backfire, resulting in not getting either Rubio or Sessions.

I’ll say this for Donnie boy — he is going to get his picture in the dictionary next to inscrutable. Has he been working this behind the scenes all along?

Seems like the T-Wolves just have to trade Ricky — it makes absolutely zero sense (for them) to hang on to his rights. I don’t claim to know what kind of NBA player Ricky will turn out to be, but I think the potential upside is too good to pass up if there’s a reasonable deal available. His court vision can’t be taught.

I hear you though, Z-man — let’s hope this doesn’t all end up with status quo.

That would make sense if Rubio wanted to play in Minnesota; he seems ambivalent re: Minny vs. Europe but would clearly favor NY over Europe..D’Antoni-ball, playing w/ Gallo, big, cosmopolitan market, etc. The problem for Minny is that if they don’t trade him, they risk getting nothing from/for him, and if they trade Flynn (who I would guess will bring back less than Rubio) this draft could wind up being a total bust for them.

Regarding Walsh, I would guess that if he really wanted Flynn, he might have settled for Lawson, a similar (and possibly better) player, or maybe Jennings. Who do you see as a taker for Flynn?

Hoopshype is such a tease. Did anyone happen to catch Bill Simmons’ tweet below the speculative article as well? “Note to Real GM: You can’t publish crap like this. The Knicks have no 2010 pick. How the F are they getting Rubio?”

If that’s the case, and Minny is looking to stockpile youth, what would we have that could actually interest them? Chandler? S&T Nate while taking take back some kind of expiring contract (not familiar with any of the contract situations of anyone on their roster, although i thought i had read blount was expiring…)? I was also under the impression that we’d be unable to move Hill or Douglas due to some rookie contract clause.

Responding to the original post – I think Nate will sign a 1-year deal sooner or later. And I think NY is the best place for Nate – how many other coaches would put up with his antics and attitude (Larry Brown tossed him to the bench)? You only get away with that stuff if your a star, and Nate is not a star player in the NBA.

So, I think Nate stays with a system that enhances his positives and a coach and fans that don’t mind his negatives – the Knicks.

re: Milwaukee,
I think it was always unlikely that they’d match an offer for Sessions, but I think the Delfino trade means taking on more salary — which pretty much seals the deal that Sessions is leaving.

My fantasy 3-way trade involves Sessions to Boston, Rondo to New York and something (like Chandler, or salary relief) to Milwaukee. I can think of a few versions. Of course it’s only feasible if Boston doesn’t want to sign Rondo to a huge extension… but for whatever weird reason, that’s what it looked like, back in July.

The thing is – when you look past the headlines, Minny isn’t risking much. The only way Rubio gets leverage, is to sit out the coming season altogether. Then he could re-enter the draft. Not sure what would happen with his buyout – is that even an option? Anyway, as long as he plays in Europe, the T-Wolves keep his rights – at least, until he turns 27. (He’s 18!)

No inside knowledge here, but even if Rubio isn’t crazy about Minnesota, I don’t think he wants to wait 10 years to play in the NBA.

Kahn might or might not be a good judge of talent, but he was Walsh’s right-hand man for years, and obviously picked up a few things, i.e. not caring about daily headlines. I assume he’s listening to offers for Rubio AND Flynn, and knows he has most of the leverage. (until Minnesota fans start to freak out, which I don’t see happening)

The only tempting things we could offer Milwaukee or Minnesota…
– Gallinari (unlikely, except maybe, maybe in a Rubio deal)
– Chandler (not tempting to Milwaukee, since they have Joe Alexander and – probably- Delfino)
– salary relief. I’m sure the Bucks would love to dump the contracts of Dan Gadzuric ($7.2 million in 2010-2011) and Charlie Bell ($8 million over the next two years). But the Bucks are up against the wall – they probably can’t afford to pay Sessions, so they can’t insist on much. That would only come into play in something like the Rondo deal I suggested (e.g. Sessions & Chandler to Boston, Rondo & Gadzuric to NY, Harrington to Milwaukee). The Wolves are in better shape, no awful contracts, although they’d probably like to dump Darius Songaila’s $4.8 milliion in 2010-2011.

Hoopshype is such a tease. Did anyone happen to catch Bill Simmons’ tweet below the speculative article as well? “Note to Real GM: You can’t publish crap like this. The Knicks have no 2010 pick. How the F are they getting Rubio?”

Ah Simmons, my man good point as always. BS could have also mentioned that the Knicks can’t trade the 2011 pick either due to draft rules about going two consecutive years without a first round pick. Minny isnt going to make this trade using second rounders or a 2012 first. Why not sign Lee and Nate to qualifying offers and see if you can trade either of them for first rounders in 2010 and 2011 sometime this season?

On Sessions: you can’t ruin the rebuilding plan for this guy. Its good Donnie is sticking his feet in the sand. I like him, but there are other points out there. Its not like he is going to lead us to the playoffs.

I can really envision a Gallinari for Rubio trade bringing a whole lot of joy to this site. And by “joy to this site” I mean a horribly catastrophic event at the Garden elicited by ill-tempered fans. Grammar bonus to myself for forcing two phonetic “ills” in one sentence. Oh my god, another bonus for two “fuh’s” … Aaand im done. sorry.

If Walsh was able to swing some kind of reasonable deal for Rubio, it would bring some much needed buzz to what has been a dreary offseason. But you know Minnesota isn’t taking back garbage, so it may come down to whether we’re willing to part with Chandler or not.

Between Lee, Robinson, Session or Micheal Crabtree, I think Crabtree signs first. This summer has shown us how patient Walsh is willing to be, and Crabtree can’t hold out too much longer – he’s already loosing fan support and will start losing money (by not signing) when the season starts.

Sure looks like Sessions on the cheap since the Clips are apparently out of the running.

If Walsh manages to get Sessions for considerably less than the mid-level after playing hardball he deserves major credit. Isiah’s worst trait was his constant propensity for getting into a bidding war with himself and overpaying for players no one else was interested in. It would be nice to see a GM recognize the situation and exploit it instead.

You know I almost started to defend Isiah by stating that the economy was different then, and the ownership did not embrace rebuilding then, but then I realized that niether the economy nor a reluctance to rebuilding could excuse Jerome James or Jared Jefferies signing for the full MLE.

I don’t think Minnesota is at all in a rush to give Rubio away. Everything they’ve been saying is that they’re willing to wait. They can let him develop on one of the best teams in Europe (Barca) and then see what happens down the road. Assuming that he continues to play well, his value is probably lowest right now.

I don’t know what’s going on with the whole situation, but once Rubio’s transfered to Barcelona (has he already been?) I don’t think he’s coming to the NBA next season whether it’s the Knicks, Lakers, whoever… He’d be paying a huge buyout to get out of a great siuation for him. He can negotiate an extention where he can get to the NBA for free if/when he wants to.

As far as the Knicks waiting on a PG, I haven’t gotten that impression. They’ve made offers to Kidd, Miller, and now Sessions. They seem to be pursuing PG above every other position, I don’t know if that’s intentionally or just where they see the talent they’ve got a chance at.

Caleb: Getting Rondo would be a dream, but I don’t know if Boston would take Sessions and Chandler for him. He could definitely be someone to keep an eye on for a midseason trade or to outbid the Celtics once he’s a RFA.

Ted,
It may be true, but really, what would you have Minny say? If they publicly say that they are shopping Rubio, his value goes down and they look even more foolish for drafting him.

I do think they are in a good position in the short run…they can see how Flynn looks before making a deal. I just sense that they are not comfortable with the way things are playing out… maybe wishful thinking.